A Ghost Like No Other
by Scoobyfan1
Summary: Fred Jones is about to embark on his new career as a mystery writer, and heads to a haunted mansion in Maryland to get ideas for his first book. However, the trip is a bit sidetracked by the fact that the ghost wants something from Daphne, but what is it?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters and trademarks are copyright 2010 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. I am not making any money off of writing this story, I am just a fan. Also this story will be similar to the 1980-82 Scary Scooby Funnies/Scooby and Scrappy Doo series but with Fred, Daphne and Velma instead of Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy Doo.

Chapter 1

We find a cherry red Cadillac Convertible belonging to a wealthy red haired college student named Daphne Blake traveling down the highway in the Eastern portion of the state of Maryland; at the moment the wealthy red haired beauty is sitting in the passenger's seat of the expensive automobile while an intelligent young brown haired woman named Velma Dinkley sits in the backseat of the vehicle.

However the two young women are not alone in the Cadillac, as a young blond haired man named Fred Jones sits in the front seat of the vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel, guiding the Cadillac to the three college students next destination, which is the prevalent topic of conversation in the expensive vehicle as the brunette and the red head proceed to pepper the driver of the car with question after question about their latest trip across the country and the group's final destination.

"Fred?" Daphne asked.

"Yes Daphne?" Fred inquired.

"Where exactly are we going again?" Daphne asked.

"It's pretty simple Daphne, my publisher wants me to go this haunted mansion on the Eastern Shore of Maryland because he thinks it would make a great setting for a mystery novel, and frankly I tend to agree with him" Fred replied.

"How come Fred?" Velma inquired from the backseat of the vehicle.

"Well it's because according to my publisher this mansion has a long history of strange happenings, things floating in the air every now and then, lights turning on and off unexpectedly, strange almost ghostly noises being heard in the house every so often and to top it all off, some people claim to have seen a female spirit roaming through the halls of the mansion, passing through walls and scaring the daylights out of people in the process" Fred replied.

"Sounds interesting Freddie, do you know what the name of this mansion is or what its like?" Daphne inquired.

"Well Daphne according to what my publisher was able to tell me over the phone the mansion is called the Brownstein Mansion and the ghost is supposed to be the spirit of the daughter of the Brownstein family, a woman named Emily Brownstein" Fred replied.

"Jinkies, so what's the story behind this Emily anyway?" Velma inquired.

"From what my publisher said Emily was the only daughter of Jacob and Martha Brownstein; the two of them were wealthy real estate tycoons who helped build up the Eastern Shore back in the early 1900's; apparently the two of them were quite shrewd with their money and as a result built up a vast fortune in the early part of the 20th century, then in around 1906 the two of them hired a developer to build the mansion and after about five months it was completed and the two of them moved in" Fred explained.

"Anything else Freddie?" Daphne asked.

"Believe me Daph, that's just the beginning; about five months after the Brownsteins moved into the mansion, Martha gave birth to a dark brown haired girl named Emily; apparently Emily was a bit of a loaner, in that she didn't really have many friends, or much of a social life for that matter, while she had some boyfriends, she never had a serious relationship, possibly due to the fact that after she got home from school she would always stay in her room; she would never allow anyone to see her and no one, not even her parents would dare come up to visit her because she had a bit of a temper as well" Fred replied.

"Jinkies, that's an interesting combination: a loaner and headstrong too, so what else Fred?" Velma asked.

"Well Emily behaved like this for the rest of her life, her parents couldn't stop her from being the way that she was but they wanted their daughter to have friends; when that didn't work, they gave up trying to help their daughter and began drinking to try and escape their daughter's wrath; eventually their drinking caught up with them and around 1922 Jacob died, followed by Martha's death in 1923; with her parents gone Emily was left to her own devices, however her lifestyle didn't change very much and she became depressed and lonely, eventually she would pass away in 1939, leaving the house empty" Fred replied.

"But there had to have been some relative that wanted to live in the house after Emily died right?" Daphne asked.

"Normally you would think so Daphne, but that was not the case; Jacob and Martha left the mansion in their will, not to Emily but to the Eastern Shore of Maryland Historical Society, to use as a tourist attraction" Fred replied.

"Tourist attraction?" Daphne inquired.

"Right; for about fifty or so years now, ever since Emily's passing, Brownstein Mansion has been among the Eastern seaboard's most popular supernatural tourist attractions; although, I guess some people wouldn't call a haunted mansion a tourist attraction, but nonetheless people still go there and still like to get their pants scared off, pardon my French" Fred responded, chuckling as he spoke.

"You know, after all those times getting scared out of our wits by monsters and ghosts, I can't understand why some people would want to go willingly to a place that's haunted or has ghosts prowling around it" Daphne remarked.

"Well Daphne, some people are just curious about the supernatural and what better way to fulfill or satisfy their curiosity then to go somewhere that has a ghost or monster lurking about; for example, look at the three of us: even when Shaggy and Scooby were with us, we would go in search of the supernatural every so often, I mean why would we visit so many haunted castles, houses and mansions? Or why would we visit places like Loch Ness or the Bermuda Triangle which are known worldwide for having strange things happen in those destinations" Velma explained from her seat in the back of the convertible.

"When you put it that way Velma, I guess you're right; I mean we do search for those things, almost as much as we stumble into them on vacations" Daphne replied.

"That's right; and it's part of the reason why I decided to get into mystery writing, after all those times that we've solved cases involving the supernatural, I always felt that some of them would make excellent books, with some of the events slightly changed and modified of course" Fred stated.

"I think you would make a good writer too Freddie, and I will definitely read whatever you write" Daphne replied with a smile, and a slightly reddish color to her face.

"Thanks Daph, I'm glad to know you'll be my first reader; at least whenever I get my first novel published" Fred remarked proudly.

"You're welcome Freddie; so, are you going to use this mansion for your first novel?" Daphne asked.

"Probably; although I want to spend some time in the mansion to get a feel for what it's like, how many rooms are inside, the history of the ghost, basically all the stuff that would be needed for a good novel" Fred replied.

"You know Fred, that's part of what makes a good mystery novel; some of the best mystery stories ever written are set in some really creepy places, and this mansion sounds like the perfect place for a mystery and it might just prove interesting for us" Velma remarked.

"I hope so Velma, I hope so" Fred replied.

"So will your publisher be coming to the mansion to spend the night with us?" Daphne asked.

"No, unfortunately he's got some other business to attend to in his office and around the Cleveland area, so he won't be able to make it; but we are going to have some one spending the night with us" Fred replied.

"Really? Who is it Fred?" Velma wondered, her curiosity having been piqued by Fred's statements.

"Well Velma, his name is David Randall and he's the head of the Eastern Shore Historical Society; he was mentioned by my publisher by name and he even said that he and my publisher were old friends" Fred responded.

"Jinkies; he sounds interesting, is he going to be at the mansion when we get there?" Velma asked.

"When I talked to my publisher, he said that Mr. Randall already drove to the mansion and that he should be there by now; so he'll most likely be inside the house when we arrive there" Fred replied.

"That reminds me Freddie, how long is it going to take us to get to this mansion?" Daphne inquired.

"More then likely it should take us about ten minutes to get there if everything goes according to plan and the traffic stays the way it is right now" Fred replied.

"Sounds good to me" Daphne responded.

"You know it's too bad Shaggy and Scooby aren't here; they might enjoy the seafood in the Eastern Shore" Velma replied.

"Maybe they would Velma, maybe they would; although I'm sure they're involved in their own adventures right now, and I'm sure they're getting involved with all sorts of ghosts and monsters and all sorts of weird things" Fred stated.

"That's for sure; it always seemed like Shaggy and Scooby would find the monster or ghost in our old mysteries first, but then they would come to us and tell us what they found, then all five of us would come together and trap the villain and solve whatever mystery we were involved in" Daphne replied.

"Right, we're a team and even though Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy aren't with us now, they've always been a part of the group" Fred responded.

"That's right, I don't know what we would do without them and someday they'll be back with us and we'll be solving mysteries again" Daphne replied.

"Right" the three sleuths said in unison.

"Although it helps that the three of us are solving mysteries while Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy are traveling the world and having their own adventures" Velma remarked.

"Yeah, it helps to have something to occupy our time, like a hobby, well, in between our careers at least" Daphne replied.

"Right; and you know, I think with all the supposed supernatural things in the world, I think it would be interesting to find some real supernatural beings instead of just people in costumes, I mean it wouldn't have to be all the time, but once in a while I think it would be interesting to search for a real ghost or monster" Velma remarked.

"Velma, that's what we're doing now; this mansion that we're going to is supposed to have a real ghost" Fred replied.

"Hmm… I guess you're right Fred; but still, wouldn't it be interesting to track down a real live ghost?" Velma wondered aloud.

"That's an interesting thought Velma, but why would you want to find a real ghost or monster?" Fred asked.

"Well, to tell the truth I've been doing some research in the supernatural; specifically some reading, and I found out that there are some real ghosts out there, and some real live haunted houses, we just have to go find them, wouldn't that be exciting?" Velma responded, with a question of her own.

"I guess it would Velma, I guess it would" Daphne replied.

"I think it would be too; but let's worry about that at a later time, right now we still have to get to the Brownstein Mansion and meet Mr. Randall" Fred remarked.

"Right Freddie and I can't wait to get there, it should be an interesting experience" Daphne replied.

"It should be indeed," Velma added.

With that the cherry red Cadillac Convertible continued to speed down the Maryland highway towards the setting of Mystery Inc.'s newest mystery, or at least the location of Fred, Daphne and Velma's latest mystery and hopefully the setting of Fred Jones' first mystery novel; which he hoped would be almost as exciting as he and his friends adventures had been over the years and would be for years to come.

However, as the convertible continued towards its destination, a fairly peculiar thing happened on the Maryland highway: as the cherry red automobile passed out of sight, a young woman, possibly in her late twenties with dark brown hair and wearing a long white dress appeared; she watched the road in front of her and wondered what was going to become of her and more importantly: what did the three people in the convertible want? And why were they on their way to the Brownstein estate in the first place?

Soon the strange looking young woman would find out about the mysterious convertible and the three young adults that inhabited it, and very soon the red haired inhabitant of the convertible would get to meet the mysterious young woman and would find out that she and the strange dark brown haired woman that stood on the highway, not worrying about getting run over by any automobiles had plenty in common, more so then anyone thought and more so then anyone ever knew.

Author's Notes: Hopefully everybody likes the way I ended the first chapter of this story; and hopefully everybody likes the cliff hangar I put in there to end the first chapter. As you might have guessed, this is another of my Fred, Daphne and Velma only stories and so far the intrepid trio have solved some interesting mysteries and are doing a pretty good job (at least in my stories) of solving mysteries without Shaggy and Scooby (and Scrappy for that matter).

Author's Notes #2: But don't worry, Shaggy and Scooby (and maybe Scrappy too) will be in a lot of other stories I am writing and they will be back solving mysteries with the gang soon; now however, the spotlight is on Fred, Daphne and Velma and their efforts to solve the mystery of the Brownstein Mansion and of the young lady on the highway, which be solved before this story's conclusion.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley, three intrepid young adults and members of the detective agency known as Mystery Inc. had always loved mysteries, ever since they were kids. One of the earliest memories the three of them had was meeting after school in the library and picking out which mystery books they wanted to read, although most of the time because of their young age the choices were somewhat limited to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels.

As time went on the three of them were joined by a young boy and his Great Dane, their names were Norville "Shaggy" Rogers and Scooby Doo and they loved mysteries as much as Fred, Daphne and Velma did; soon the five of them began reading other mysteries such as Sherlock Holmes (which Velma enjoyed), Agatha Christie (which Daphne enjoyed) and the works of Stephen King and other authors with similar styles (which Fred seemed to enjoy).

Shaggy and Scooby also read a few mysteries with them and eventually that love of mysteries led the five friends to form their own detective agency. Originally it was called the Scooby Doo Detective Agency(named after the group's Great Dane and unofficial mascot), but that name soon changed to Mystery Incorporated or Mystery Inc. for short when the group realized they needed a more appropriate name.

It wasn't that the Scooby Doo Detective Agency was inappropriate, far from it, but rather it was because the five of them were taking on more serious mysteries and needed a more official sounding name which would tell their clients and people interested in hiring them that they were truly in the business of being sleuths, instead of merely "Meddling Kids" as so many of the crooks they had caught had called the group.

But despite the change in names, the focus for the group of young sleuths always stayed the same, solving crimes and catching villains, despite the fact that the team of youngsters and their dog were always known as "Meddling Kids" by the villains they caught, which numbered in the range of three hundred to four hundred, as they were one of the more successful detective agencies out there.

It was the excitement of finding a new mystery or locating a new haunted place to investigate that drove the unofficial leader of this group, one Fred Jones to look for another line of work that involved mysteries.

It wasn't that he and his friends didn't want to solve them any more, it was because the five or rather four sleuths (Scooby withstanding) needed to find careers, even though detective work was fun and rewarding in a few cases; it was because the gang was getting past their teenage years, and each of the five realized that they had to find some skill that would help them in their lives post mystery solving.

The two chicken hearted members of the group, Shaggy and Scooby along with the Great Dane's rather brave nephew Scrappy Doo took the group's van The Mystery Machine and went in search of jobs and adventures, or at least that's what they told their friends went they went off to explore the world and take some time off of mysteries.

For Fred, Daphne and Velma though things weren't that simple. Sure, the trio had things they were interested in, for Velma it was her work with NASA and college, for Daphne it was becoming a magazine writer and college.

While for Fred, he wasn't sure what to do with himself besides college, but one day he started writing and realized he might be a good mystery writer, so he decided that's what he was going to do with his life and that's what he chose as a career.

Although he didn't totally leave mystery solving behind, he took Daphne and Velma on his trips to find good settings for mystery novels, which was why the three friends were driving along the highway on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in search of a mansion known as the Brownstein Estate, which had been suggested to him by his publisher and which Fred realized, might make a great mystery novel setting.

After traveling along the interstate for sometime, the driver of the cherry red convertible pulled into a rather quiet private neighborhood in Ocean City, Maryland. In the span of a few minutes as the convertible slowly made its way through the peaceful and serene area, the three sleuths could certainly see by looking out the car's windows that the place they were going to was in a very special and unique environment.

Most of the houses in the neighborhood had two floors, rather unique architecture that seemed to belong in New York City or Los Angeles and not in Maryland, as well as expensive cars in each house's driveway that seemed to cause a whistle from the red haired passenger of the automobile, even though she was wealthy and her parents had most of the cars that she and her friends spotted.

To sum it all up, Fred, Daphne and Velma realized that most of the houses in this neighborhood must be mansions, or if they weren't mansions, then they were built by people who had a lot of money and would probably have more in common with stuffy, sophisticated business people then with three young adults who were in search of a good mystery.

But that's what the intrepid trio of youngsters were, and in particular what Fred was. After all, he was the one who decided to come to Maryland in the first place and he was the one who decided that maybe Daphne and Velma wanted to tag along, which they did.

As the convertible continued down the street, past the well kept houses and well groomed trees, the blond haired drive of the car started looking out the window every so often, trying to locate the house that he and his companions were to spent the night in and that he hoped would be the setting of his first mystery novel, which Fred was hoping would become a best selling book and would perhaps bring Fred to worldwide fame as a mystery writer.

Finally, after several minutes of waiting and driving, the convertible came to a stop outside of a large two story house which looked to have a façade made entirely of brownstone, and which Fred Jones recognized instantly as the exact destination that he was looking for since he and his companions had started on their journey.

"Well, here we are girls: Brownstein Mansion." Fred explained proudly as he motioned to the imposing building a mere few hundred feet away.

Daphne and Velma followed Fred's hand towards the great structure and gasped at its sheer beauty and magnificent architecture, both of which seemed to entrance the pair as they exited the doors of expensive cherry red automobile.

The Brownstein house in addition to its Brownstone façade, featured a beautiful fountain, with what appeared to be sculpted dolphins atop it, which was also where the water came out of before the liquid poured back into the bottom of the fountain, which was surrounded by a large stone ring, and which also protected the H20 from spilling onto the manicured grounds.

In addition to the fountain, there was a bountiful assortment of flowers and plants in a beautiful looking garden, which was in front of the house and which was spotted by Daphne instantly as she, Velma and Fred walked up the stone path towards the great house after the trio took their luggage from the car.

"Jeepers, those Brownsteins sure knew how to live, this house is fantastic; it's almost magical, I-I can't describe it, there's just something about this place, it almost reminds me of my parents mansion" Daphne remarked with a gasp, while imagining herself for a few moments living in the early 1900s and being a resident of the magnificent estate.

"Yeah, it does have a certain quality to it. I don't know if it's magical, but it does look like a house I wouldn't mind living in" Velma added.

The aspiring mystery writer, the red haired heiress and the intelligent bespectacled young woman continued making their way towards the front door as they prepared to spend what they hoped would be a worthwhile couple of days at the estate.

The three sleuths thoughts as they approached the imposing structure ranged from the majestic and dreams, such as thinking about what it would be like if they lived in the imposing estate during the early part of the 20th century, or the latter stages of the 19th century for that matter, which was when the mansion was still inhabited and it would have been a sight to behold, to the slightly nervous, just in case the mansion was truly haunted and one of the three sleuths happened to meet the ghost of the house.

Soon the trio of young adults had found their way to the front door of the vast and glorious mansion, with luggage in tow, which in Daphne Blake's case numbered many pieces, although at the moment Fred and Velma didn't seem to mind that, especially since they and Daphne wanted to enter the house before it got too late.

"Jinkies, this place certainly seems a lot bigger up close." Velma remarked.

"Yeah it sure does, I mean I thought it was a large mansion when we drove into the driveway, but once you get a closer look at it, it seems like it's five times bigger then what you or me originally thought it was." Fred replied.

"Good point Freddie; and just think: this place was built and paid for by a couple of real estate tycoons; can you imagine how Mr. and Mrs. Brownstein managed to get a house like this built in the first place?" Daphne responded.

"I can imagine it must have been quite a feat for the two of them to get this house fully built in the first place; although I would guess they probably had a lot of help." Velma replied.

"I would think so too, maybe Mr. Randall can tell us more about the house when we get inside." Fred explained.

With that Fred, Daphne and Velma waited for someone to let them into the house so that they could begin investigating the mansion and so the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. could think about some ideas that were sure to make his first novel a popular book and a best seller to boot.

After waiting a few minutes the trio of detectives began to hear what sounded like footsteps coming from inside the mansion; realizing that the noise was indeed footsteps, the three young adults made sure that their luggage was close by and prepared to enter the building in case whoever was making the footsteps was the person that Fred, Daphne and Velma were supposed to meet at the house.

Soon the large wooden doors of the great, brownstone mansion began to open, and standing in the doorway was a man in his forties with light brown hair and a few salt and pepper colored strands sprinkled among the natural color of his hairdo; the man wore a dark blue blazer, crimson colored tie, dark blue pants, or maybe they were slacks, the gang wasn't sure what they were for now.

However, as Fred, Daphne and Velma stood outside the imposing mansion, with the as yet unnamed man standing in the doorway, smiling at them, the intrepid trio of sleuths first thought was if they were indeed in the right place and at the right mansion. Which was probably what the trio thought every time they encountered a mystery or attempted to solve one for that matter, but in this case they weren't quite sure what they were doing at the house and if they had maybe taken a wrong turn, or something similar.

"Ah yes, you must be Mr. Jones, Miss Dinkley and Miss Blake; my name is David Randall, I'm the head of the local historical society" the man explained as he held out his hand for the budding mystery writer to shake it.

"It's very nice to meet you sir" Fred replied, while grasping the man's hand and shaking it briskly as he spoke.

"Likewise Mr. Jones" Mr. Randall remarked, with a polite and smart grin on his face.

"So you're the person that Freddie's publisher mentioned that was going to be here to meet us" Daphne stated, sounding very much like a reporter asking a question (which she was hoping to become one day).

"Affirmative Miss Blake; sorry, I guess I should say correct, I guess it's some of my military training coming through" Mr. Randall replied, scratching the back of his head and feeling a bit embarrassed as he spoke.

"That's quite all right Mr. Randall; by the way, what military training did you go through?" Daphne asked.

"Well Miss Blake, I was in the Coast Guard for several years; needless to say their training was quite strict at certain times" Mr. Randall answered, standing like a statue in the doorway.

"I can sure understand that Mr. Randall, actually I guess I should have mentioned this on the phone but I have an uncle who is in the Marine Corps, well the Marine Corps band, but in the Marines nonetheless" Fred replied.

"Interesting; it sounds like you have an intriguing family tree Mr. Jones, and I think with that family background you will make a fine writer" Mr. Randall explained, having come out from the doorway in order to place his hand on the young man's shoulder in a gesture of friendship.

"I think so too sir; actually on our way here my girlfriend and my other friend told me that I would make a very fine writer and that they would read anything I would happen to write in the future" Fred replied, motioning over to the two females of the trio.

"Well if they told you that you are going to be an excellent writer, then I can certainly see why you have such great friends, and such a lovely girlfriend as well" Mr. Randall said with a smile, while looking over at Daphne, who blushed ever so slightly at his the man's comment.

"Thank you Mr. Randall, that was very polite and nice of you to say" Daphne replied.

"You're welcome Miss Blake, and that also goes for Miss Dinkley as well, I can certainly see her making some young man very lucky someday" Mr. Randall explained further.

"Actually Mr. Randall, I sort of have a boyfriend; I mean I've never told him, but I think he's a very handsome guy, and wonderfully funny, and kind, and sweet; in short, he's probably one of the nicest people I've ever met" Velma replied.

"That's wonderful Miss Dinkley, I think whoever this gentleman is that you are enthralled with will make you a very happy young woman some day, I'm sure of it" Mr. Randall remarked, smiling as he spoke.

"I'm sure he will Mr. Randall, I'm sure he will" Velma replied, still thinking of a certain sandy haired young man, who was traveling with the group's Great Dane, and his nephew at the moment.

"That's all well and good, but I think we should get back to the reason why we're here" Daphne commented, trying to steer the conversation back in the right direction.

"Indeed; Mr. Randall, why don't you show us inside and we can start our tour of the mansion?" Fred suggested, turning to the distinguished man standing in front of the door.

"Excellent idea Mr. Jones, and a good suggestion at that. Now, I assume you three have the luggage that you brought with you from home?" Mr. Randall inquired.

"We do" Daphne replied.

"Good, now Mr. Jones, Miss Dinkley and Miss Blake, if you will all follow me, we can get started" Mr. Randall explained.

"Sure thing Mr. Randall" Fred replied, making sure each item he brought with him was accounted for as he followed the head of the historical society into the ancient mansion.

Fred and Mr. Randall were then followed by Daphne and Velma, as the trio stepped through the doorway and entered the very large and seemingly very intimidating house. The budding blond haired writer's female companions managed to bring their luggage with them inside the mansion as all three of Mystery Inc.'s members, or at least the ones that were present at the moment, stood in the spacious front room of the mansion, with David Randall flanking them and making a sweeping style motion as he showed off the front room to the trio.

"As you've probably guessed, this is the living room and main parlor area for the mansion. During the years that this house was lived in, the Brownsteins did most of their entertaining here; usually business acquaintances, or friends, or co-workers, or anyone else the family knew would spend time here." Mr. Randall explained, while Fred, Daphne and Velma looked over the expanse of the living room.

"Jeepers, the Brownsteins had everything in here. There's a fireplace, some paintings, a couple of lamps, all kinds of stuff" Daphne remarked, looking around at the room's furnishings, which were a bit different then those in the red head's parents mansion; partly because the one the red head lived in was built decades after the one the group was currently in.

"Very good Miss Blake; yes, the Brownsteins had all the comforts of home, or at least all the comforts of home during the 1910's and 20s." Mr. Randall replied, somewhat impressed at the knowledge the red head seemed to display.

"Thank you Mr. Randall." Daphne responded.

"Well, since I think we're all done with the living room, why don't we move onto another room?" Mr. Randall replied.

"Sounds good to us Mr. Randall, lead the way" Fred responded.

A few moments later, David Randall led the trio out of the living room, and before long Fred and the girls found themselves in yet another room in the main level of the mansion. Once they entered the room, they saw that it was painted a peach color, and that there was a large wooden table right in the midst of it.

In addition, there were two wooden cabinets located above the sink, a large microwave oven, and a range set towards the back wall of the room. Upon coming into the room, the trio of young adults realized that this was most likely the kitchen, considering there was a lot of food preparation equipment inside the room.

"Well, here's the kitchen area of the mansion. Now, as you can probably see, there's a microwave in here. While the microwave was not invented at the time this house was built and was inhabited, it was added about twenty years or so ago when the people who owned the house at the time were thinking about putting it on the market." Mr. Randall explained.

"Do you know who owned the house at the time Mr. Randall?" Fred asked.

"Well, after the Brownsteins daughter Emily passed away, the house and grounds entered into a family trust. After about 15 years, the family trust made the decision to give the house to the local historical society. The historical society though at one time was having financial difficulties, and about 2 years after the historical society got the mansion, they looked for a new buyer for the estate. Soon afterwards, a real estate company locally purchased the house and grounds and did some remodeling and added some features, like the microwave in the kitchen." Mr. Randall continued.

"I see; so, this is a fairly modern house now?" Daphne inquired.

"I guess you could say that miss Blake. However, while this house now features modern amenities, it still has its old fashioned charm I guess you might say." Mr. Randall noted.

"Mr. Randall, there's one thing that I'm curious about. If this house really is haunted as you say, then wouldn't the ghost be angry with the people who put these modern amenities in?" Velma asked.

"I guess you might say that Velma. Although, I'm really hoping that doesn't occur." Mr. Randall remarked.

"No offense Mr. Randall, but we've rarely met a real ghost in our travels. But if it makes for a good book, I suppose meeting a real ghost would be nice." Fred replied.

"Well Mr. Jones, there's always a first time. Now, let's forget about that and I'll show the three of you the rest of the house." Mr. Randall responded, as he began walking out of the kitchen, with Fred and the girls in tow right behind him.

While the trio of investigators walked through a corridor leading from the kitchen, Fred, Daphne and Velma couldn't help but wonder about the person leading them on their tour throughout the house. Was he really and truly honest about who he was? Was he actually someone who was with the historical society, or was he someone else entirely?

Granted Mr. Randall had already told them he was there because the person from the publishing company Fred was writing for couldn't make it. Although, was he telling them exactly everything about his life, and his work? For now, it was something that the gang would have to keep under wraps, as the reason the group was in the mansion in the first place was that he wanted to write a book, and this mansion was most likely the perfect place to use as a setting for it.

After Mr. Randall led the group throughout the rest of the mansion, and after the group explored the parlor, the library, and some of the structures on the outside of the house, Fred took a moment and looked down at his watch. After noticing that it was getting rather late, Fred, Daphne and Velma along with Mr. Randall decided to stop exploring for the day; after dinner, which consisted of pizza ordered from a local pizzeria, Fred and girls each picked rooms for them to sleep in for the duration of their stay in the mansion.

Once Fred, Daphne and Velma each picked a room, Mr. Randall gave them the house key, and keys for each room to the mansion. After he told them that there was electricity in the house, as well as TV, Radio, heat, running water and other things that they might need he then explained to the trio that he had to leave for the night, but that he would be back the next day to help the gang out more with any further exploring of the mansion they wished to do.

So with that, Mr. Randall exited the house and drove off in his dark blue Ford, leaving Fred, Daphne and Velma to spend the night in the ancient estate. For Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley, spending the night in a haunted mansion was nothing new. They had spent a lot of time in such places in the past, and knew what they were getting themselves into, before they had decided to go to the estate in the first place.

But because Fred was going to try and write about a haunted mansion, and a mystery novel set in such a place, it was going to be a different experience for the members of Mystery Inc. to be sure. Although, as Fred took some notes while sitting up in his bed, and Daphne and Velma started drifting off to sleep, the trio of sleuths had no idea that this haunted mansion was going to be the site of one of the strangest experiences they had ever gone through.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait between posting chapters, I went through a dry spell figuring out what to write for this. But now I'm back, and will try and update more regularly; or maybe not, it really depends. I usually like to write at my own leisure, so if it takes me a while to update my stories, that's why (which I mention on my profile page).


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